16 September 2014

Queuing at Centrelink

| Daniel
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I haven’t noticed before, but it seems that service providers (Centrelink, Canberra Connect, banks etc) have their personnel patrol queues or “greet customers” in place of getting a queue ticket. On the surface this seems very reasonable. However when I went to Centrelink Braddon about a letter threatening to suspend or cancel my 90 yo mother’s pension, the “greeter” took the letter, went to consult some computer records, talked to other officers and came back saying brashly and assertively that everything has been sorted out and I should just go back to the bank to finalise matters. This didn’t sound right and I asked a few more questions which were fobbed off. I wasn’t feeling well, felt publicly cowed and left.

Needless to say, nothing was fixed, the time limit passed and as I had nothing to prove that I was at their Office, Centrelink cancelled the pension. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience with any agency?

Patrolling queues in this way also negates the usefulness of expensive queuing machines in service management, but maybe that is the point.

PS This is not a complaint about Centrelink staff. I must add that two staff have been particularly helpful to me in this and Medicare matters

 

 

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VYBerlinaV8_is_back9:39 am 18 Sep 14

arescarti42 said :

” I went to Centrelink Braddon about a letter threatening to suspend or cancel my 90 yo mother’s pension

Joe Hockey wants your lazy pension bludging 90 yo mother to get a job.

The age of entitlement is over, didn’t you know? (unless you’re a politician or business elite).

Any chance to have a political dig, eh…?

I had a wierd one where I had to get an immunisation certificate from medicare and give it to centrelink. Despite them being collocated I had to go there so I could ferry the piece of paper from one side of the room to another – but I had to line up in the same queue to do it…

” I went to Centrelink Braddon about a letter threatening to suspend or cancel my 90 yo mother’s pension

Joe Hockey wants your lazy pension bludging 90 yo mother to get a job.

The age of entitlement is over, didn’t you know? (unless you’re a politician or business elite).

Pitchka said :

I hate how they have combined Medicare and Centrelink into one location at Homeworld.

Those of us going in to get a Medicare rebate could be mistaken for a dole bludger. Aint nobody got time for that!

Don’t think you’d have to worry about being mistaken for a dole bludger, especially if you’re going to Homeworld – considering that Centrelink and Medicare are located in Tuggeranong Square…

Emily Morris3:23 pm 17 Sep 14

I have noticed this at medicare the last couple of times I’ve popped in. They’ve gone from a pretty efficient ticketing service to a person to attempt to direct you – preferably to a self service option. The result seems to be a 30 minute minimum wait instead of taking a ticket and waiting maybe 5 minutes! I haven’t tackled Centrelink for a while as I do all of that online but when I first set it all up it was pretty arduous!

I hate how they have combined Medicare and Centrelink into one location at Homeworld.

Those of us going in to get a Medicare rebate could be mistaken for a dole bludger. Aint nobody got time for that!

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